The Cohort facts/profile
The Cohort is also known as UNDER₩ATER Squad, Killer Whales or Orca Club.
“Walk with us”.
They have a clothes brand called Orca Wear (although it is currently out of stock, at least on their official web. If anyone know where to buy let me know!)
They released an album called “Orca Tape” featuring many members of the crew as well as some featuring artists such as G2, Reddy and Paloalto.
Jan’qui, Skinny Mooxe and, Lee Joon Suk helped with the making of “Orca Tape”.
It started with Kangkook and one of his friends from New York who knew Okasian and told him to “join”. Then JayAllDay heard from Reddy and told Okasian about him. From then on the members where naturally added. (They said in some interviews that they got together because they liked the same stuff, it was not really premeditated).
Not all the members in the crew make music. Some of them are in charge of designing.
OKASIAN
His real Korean name is 김지용 (Kim JiYong) and his English name is Alexander Kim.
He speaks English fluently.
He is 173cm.
He lives in Seoul but he was born in the US. He grew up in Korea and then returned to the US to study in college.
He was born on the 11th March 1987.
He is dating SooYeon, since at least ay 2015.
He was involved in a fight with Dok2 when he dissed “It G Ma” (in which Okasian features). After the diss, Okasian called Dok2 a “fuckboy” on Instagram and told him to mind his own business.
He started writing his first lyrics and recording in a studio when he got into college.
He studied Biology in The Pennsylvania State University.
On the 20th May 2016 he ended his contract with Hi-Lite Records, choosing to be an independent artist.
He is currently signed under The Black Label.
His artistic name is a combination of the word “OK” and “Asian”. When you read it, it sounds as the word “Occasion”.
His influences are B-Free, Kayne West, Curren$y and A$AP Rocky.
He had some legal problems in the past due to him being caught smoking weed.
His favourite song from “Orca Tame” is “Pluto”.
When people approach him saying “please, listen to this beat” he usually doesn’t.
He has several tattoos, mostly on his arms.
He has a nostril piercing.
KEITH APE
He is learning English.
Hes real name is 이동헌 (Lee DongHeon).
He was born in Seoul.
He was born on December 25, 1993.
He used to be signed under Hi-Lite Records.
He was known as Kid Ash, but he changed his artist name to Keith Ape.
He had a concert with Skrillex in the US.
He is mostly known for his song IT G MA (잊지마 'don't forget') featuring KOHH, Loota, Okasian and Jay AllDay.
He is the most well known member of The Cohort.
He had a confrontation with OG Maco because he accused Keith of cultural appropriation and that he stole the basis of his debut single “U Guessed It” for their track. On August 13, 2015, OG Maco collects royalties from “It G Ma” but he refused to be part of the remix rendition that would be made later on.
He is currently signed under CXSHXNLY Records.
At the beginning, his favourite song from “Orca Tape” was “New Seoul”, but after mixing and everything it was “Pluto”.
He directed the intro video for “Orca Tape”.
He is interested in directing.
BRYAN CHASE
He was born on August 31.
His real name is Bryan Choi.
He is from Virginia, US.
He is currently signed under The Black Label.
He lives in Seoul.
He used to be known as Play$tar, but changed his artistic name to Bryan Cha$e.
He is fluent in both English and Korean.
B-FREE
His real name is ChaeSung.
He was born on August 19, 1985.
He was born in Hawaii, US.
He is very good friends with Okasian.
He has a nephew.
He is married. (I don’t really know that much about B-Free, but I read about this in an old article, I haven’t checked if it is true or not or if he is divorced or since when he is married. If you know tell me!).
He ended his military service in 2007.
He was known as “slacker rapper”.
When he graduated from High School his father bought him a ticket to Korea to go on a vacation. Once he was there his father told him that he should start a new life there.
When he first arrived in Korea he didn’t know the language and didn’t have any friends.
In 2007 he met Snacky Chan, who told hime that he should start rapping after seen his rhymes.
When he was in High School he liked Jay-Z and DMX. DMX was his main influence to start writing.
He didn’t listen to much K-hiphop, but when he was in the army a friend showed him Dynamic Duo’s songs and that’s when he started writing in Korean.
He doesn’t respect any K-pop idols because he thinks they’re puppets for their companies selling music they didn’t create themselves. He specially dislikes idol rappers.
OSCAR LEE
Founder of The Cohort.
Oscar the Orca.
He is a designer for the crew and takes charge of the outfits.
He is dating 전미소.
AM.KA¥
He used to be known as Matia.
He likes video games, such as Tekken.
He likes anime. He likes Naruto and Cowboy Bebop among others.
COKE JAZZ
He is a musician, producer and singersongwritter.
He can play the piano, the trumpet and the guitar.
He can speak English (he said it on one of his IG lives).
KANGKOOK
His real name is 강민국 (Kang MinKook).
His favourite song from “Orca Tape” is “Gang-Gook / Kang-Kook” (not sure which transcription is the best), the same as Reddy.
He is one of the first members of The Cohort along with Oscar.
JA¥ALLDA¥
He features in Keith Ape’s song “It G Ma”.
Being a rapper is not his full time job, he does “many things here and there”.
He did the skit for “Orca Tape” while he was a little bit drunk.
He likes “Pluto” from “Orca Tape”, but if he had to choose just one song he would go with “New Seoul” because he thinks it shows The Cohort’s style.
$WIDEA
His favourite song from “Orca Tape” is “New Seoul”.
He is not a musician.
He is in charge of fashion (outfits and overall image).
According to JayAllDay he is in charge of visuals.
EX-MEMBERS
Reddy used to be a member of Cohort, but since he is no longer a part of the crew I will not share his info here.
PD: notes in italics are not confirmed/I’m not sure about; feel free to send more info or tell me if anything is wrong/needs to be updated!
Some of these facts are from old interviews, I tried to only write updated stuff, but somethings may not be 100% accurate now.
I’ve heard that there is this model, Park SungJin that is also a part of The Cohort, but I couldn’t really find anything about him and, to be honest, while doing this facts it has been the first time I’ve heard of him. I’ve tried looking up some more info about him, but all I got was about Goretexx (Just Music). Is he the same? Does anybody know?
